Social Media 101: Mistakes to Avoid

If you are a small business or startup, then explaining epic social media fails by large corporations really has nothing to do with you. I want to highlight how small businesses have failed or made mistakes with their social media strategy so you don’t make the same.

In the past, businesses could survive without social, but we are now in the age of the social business. What is a social business today? A social business embraces the evolving nature of technology to create a base for effective internal and external relationships. Those who are ignoring this movement will ultimately lose because lack of social indicates lack of interest and care for the people who drive your business—your customers.

Here are a few things to avoid when creating your social media strategy:

Lack of connection to overall business goals

When companies are starting out, sometimes they don’t have a clear vision for their business. But, your mission statement should be at the core of your overall business strategy. Only after you define your business objectives can you create a sound and consistent social media strategy. Pages and interactions on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter, should reflect your brand and values. If your social media is not aligned with other aspects of your business, then chances are, your posts will not foster engagement or further your thought leadership.

No buyer personas

As I emphasized in a previous post, Establishing Buyer Personas: The Basics, defining your buyers is critical in developing effective marketing, public relations, and social media strategies. If you don’t have a good understanding of who your buyers are then how can you create content geared specifically for them? Well, you can’t. Take the time to flesh out client profiles into buyer personas because it will help you narrow your content for them.

Quantity over Quality

We are in a world of content overload. Yes, content is extremely important, but quality content is key. You shouldn’t be pushing out blog posts and tweets just for the sake of doing so. Yes, it is important to have a consistent stream of content, but if it’s not relevant to your followers then please do not post it. It is better to have two focused, contextual, and informative blog posts per week than five bad or irrelevant posts. This is especially important for small businesses because there is simply not enough time in the day to concentrate on content. So, remember, sometimes with content, less is more.

Repeat posts across all platforms

It is sometimes tempting to post the same content on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, because it’s easier and saves our precious time. Well, think again. Chances are you have some people who follow you on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn, which probably means they like your brand and your content. To keep those loyal followers, you should not be posting the same content on each social media site, because it gets repetitive and seems careless to your audience. Instead, post content that is appropriate for each platform (i.e. inforgraphics on Facebook and small tidbits on Twitter). This will keep your audience interested and attract new followers.

Rush to be on every platform

If you don’t have the time for social media, then don’t make pages or accounts for every platform. Instead, identify which platform is best suited for your company and make that account great with consistent posts of quality content. It looks much better to your customers and potential customers if you have one robust social media account than if you have five with a lack of interesting content. Especially at the early stages of your business, choose one and make it great.